7/12/08

Foreign NGOs in Russia Lose Tax Status

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed a decree reducing the number of international organizations in Russia allowed to issue tax-free grants from 101 to just 12.

The sharp reduction raises new fears about a crackdown on foreign nongovernmental organizations.

Among the groups whose grants will no longer be tax-exempt from January 2009 include the World Wildlife Fund (Switzerland), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Switzerland), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS (Switzerland), the Ford Foundation (U.S.), the Eurasia Foundation (U.S.) and the Royal Society (Britain), Interfax said.